Chapter 603: Followed

The auctioneer’s voice continued to speak, “The item I hold in my hand has a very unique name, Spiritize Dust. Not only is it pretty to look at, but the effects it has will undoubtedly be shocking to anyone that hears it. It contains the energy of the world within the particles of dust, and when worn on the body, then one’s cultivation speed will skyrocket! It is by no means inferior to when one uses a monster core to cultivate.”

There had been a tremendous commotion from the entire audience from such a proclamation. From this, everyone knew just how much the dust was worth.

But then the next few words that came out from the auctioneer’s mouth had caused everyone to go practically insane.

“The effects of the Spiritize Dust isn’t limited to just that. As soon as this dust makes contact with the outside world, it will draw in the energy of the world around it in a never ending stream. If placed around one’s home, then that home would become rich with such energy and transform the area into a holy ground for cultivation. Everyone, please take a moment to think about the great benefits of such an item. With this, what worries would your families have?”

The fires in everyone’s eyes had practically ignited to full blaze with that. To them, this Spiritize Dust had an effect that many times better than what some ten thousand year old heavenly resource Geofruit could do. They could after all, make their homes into a powerful place of cultivation. Furthermore, this had also opened up the Fantasy Star Ocean as a potential source of revenue. Unfortunately, because of the difficulty of the location itself, obtaining Spiritize Dust was nearly impossible and put an end to ma.s.s exportation of the dust.

So in this one moment alone, everyone had made up their minds to get the Spiritize Dust no matter what the cost. For the sake of the growth of their families, this was a crucial item.

“Let us start the bid for the Spiritize Dust at three million purple coins. Each bid will increase the price by another ten thousand. If anyone has interest in the Spiritize Dust, then this is an opportunity that cannot be missed. This Spiritize Dust is an absolute must.” The auctioneer smiled.

Afterwards, another herculean battle had taken place as everyone began to shout their prices one after another. Rising in price at an astronomical rate, the Spiritize Dust was already well over ten million purple coins within a few moments.

Jian Chen had been seated in his corner in silence without ever making a bid for himself. Since he knew that he now needed a tremendous amount of this stardust, there was no point in fighting for this small amount. It would do him no good to obtain such a miniscule amount for the major price.

“It would appear that I must go to Fantasy Star Ocean in order to obtain enough stardust in order to smelt the Azulet swords.” Jian Chen thought to himself.

For an hour, the stardust had been fought for by the entire audience before finally being bought out by a mysterious buyer on the second floor for a high price of eighty million purple coins. A sum like that was far more than enough to buy an entire nation.

And now that the auction house had finally finished all of its items, the event had ended and Jian Chen left the hall. By this time, the outside sky was already growing dark.

Hu Xiaotian walked up to Jian Chen’s side and looked up at the sky with him. “Somehow, an entire day has pa.s.sed without me knowing it. Brother Jian Chen, which inn might you be staying at?”

“My inn is the one known as the Sweet Fate inn on the westward street. Sire Hu Xiaotian, it’s getting late, so I’ll be heading back first to rest. And so, I’ll be taking my leave here.” Jian Chen cupped his hands to bid farewell to him before turning around to leave.

“One moment. As things turn out, I haven’t an inn to stay in myself. Would it be possible for brother Jian Chen to take me there?” Hu Xiaotian laughed as he caught up to Jian Chen to walk by his side.

“Ah, brother Jian Chen, you’ve gone to the holy lands within Mercenary City I remember. That’s a place where even Saint Rulers dream of going to. Would it perhaps be possible to divulge just what bizarre or fantastic things can be found in there?” Hu Xiaotian asked in pa.s.sing.

“There are many fantastics things to be found in there, but what truly interests the Saint Rulers are the Saint Tier Battle Skills.” Jian Chen had spoken honestly to Hu Xiaotian. Mercenary City was a strong place to be in, and there was no need for him to hide or worry about the secret at all. It was something that he believed all Saint Rulers already knew and wasn’t a secret at all.

“As I thought, I figured that there would be one of the Saint Tier Battle Skills they mentioned of in legend. But I didn’t expect that these battle skills would be so powerful to destroy even the heavens themselves. Only Saint Rulers are said to be able to start learning these ones due to the difficulty of comprehension. Each one of those who understands how to use a Saint Tier Battle Skill works however are all Saint Kings without exception. Or so I’ve heard.” Hu Xiaotian remarked.

Jian Chen had looked strangely at Hu Xiaotian before smiling, “It seems sire Hu Xiaotian is quite knowledgeable about these matters if you know about them to such an extent.”

But Hu Xiaotian had chuckled in response, “It is common knowledge, nothing more. As long as you travel the continent long enough, then things like this slowly come to you.”

The two had traveled for some time before they finally arrived back at the inn.

Jian Chen had only just walked into his own room and closed the door behind when he walked on over to the window and opened the boards. Looking outside, Jian Chen’s eyes slowly traveled to where a giant building was a little away in the distance. On the roof, a single white-robed elder could be seen sitting on it while staring at Jian Chen with gleaming eyes.

It was the third elder of the s.h.i.+ family.

When he saw the elder, Jian Chen couldn’t help but feel a small smile crawl onto his face. From the very moment he had left the auction house, the third elder had been stalking him from behind. But this time, the elder had been cautious and stuck close to Jian Chen in order to avoid losing him again.

“Third elder, are you not feeling tired?” Jian Chen smiled playfully at the elder.

With eyes that could leave a smoldering spot, the elder gave a level stare at Jian Chen, “Jian Chen, I advise you to return the Ruler Armament. You cannot escape this time, or do you plan to live your entire life within the confines of Mercenary City?”

Jian Chen had said nothing this time and had instead closed the boards to his windows. Sitting on his bed, Jian Chen began to think of the very next step in what to do. Should he kill the elder straight away to head Longevity Valley, or should he wait for the Saint Ruler of the s.h.i.+ family to come so that he could have elder Xiu in Longevity Valley take care of him?

The only vexation that had crossed his mind however was the fact that he didn’t know just how strong the Saint Ruler of the s.h.i.+ family was. He didn’t know whether or not elder Xiu would be able to handle the Saint Ruler either.

After going into consideration for a long period of time, Jian Chen had finally reached a verdict on what to do next before finally settling into a state of meditation to recover his strength.

Early next morning, Jian Chen had bid farewell to Hu Xiaotian before leaving for the outsides of the city with the sleeping tiger cub.

Not too long after he left Mercenary City, Jian Chen continued for another ten kilometers before stopping. Turning to look at the third elder who had been stalking him, Jian Chen smiled, “Third elder, the barrier to Mercenary City stops here. Did you not wish to steal the Ruler Armament from me? How do you plan on doing that now?”

With both arms folded against his chest, the elder spoke, “Jian Chen, I presume you have called for help of some sort if you can stay so calm. Hurry and call them out, you can’t hide anything anymore.”

“If it’s you, I have no need to call for anyone else to help me. You worry too much, third elder. I am by myself today. If you wish to take the Ruler Armament from me, then take it yourself.” Jian Chen smiled. His presence had already been spread out for fifteen kilometers all around the area. If a Saint Ruler were to appear, Jian Chen would run straight for Mercenary City.

“How arrogant!” The third elder spat out. Looking at the open area around him, the man spoke out, “Everyone, come out and let us take the two Ruler Armaments from him.” The elder had remembered that Jian Chen held the Duanyun Sword from the Jiede clan as well.

With his finis.h.i.+ng sentence, four seventy-year old elders suddenly came out from the skies in each cardinal direction around Jian Chen so as to trap him in.

But Jian Chen had not been disturbed by their appearances at all. Thanks to his presence, Jian Chen had been fully aware of their existences. From the moment he had been in the city to now, there had been no way that someone could hide from him. No matter what they used, they were as visible to him as if it were normal.

There had been a faint azure-colored sword in the third elder’s hand as he glowered at Jian Chen. “I’ll give you one last chance. Will you or will you not return the Ruler Armament?” At the same time, the other four men brandished their own Saint Weapons.

With five Heaven Saint Masters against him, Jian Chen didn’t dare be lazy either and resolved to use the Origin energy of the sword spirits. A beam of azure and violet light immediately shot forth from his right palm and formed a single blade.

The third elder had thought back to the last time he had fought Jian Chen to death when he saw the Origin energy. The look on his face solidified as he grew serious, “Fourth elder, be careful. Jian Chen isn’t as simple as he looks on the surface.”

“Third elder, worry not. The four of us all know of what happened to the Cai brothers. We won’t be following them into the afterlife today.” One of the elder laughed confidently. Afterwards, a surge of yellow-brown energy flowed forth from his body to form a protective layering over him like armor.

With this armor for protection, the elder’s confidence had been bolstered as well and immediately flew off towards Jian Chen to strike.